Dianah Nampijja
Plastic bags in Uganda.
‘A threat to Human Health and the Environment.
Plastic Bags; Global perspective
Civilization has reached a global stage due to
globalization with changes witnessed politically,
socially, environmentally, military and economically
Currently, the world consumes 500 billion plastic
bags every year
No national government has banned the outright
distribution of plastic bags but several governments
have banned plastic bags under a certain thickness
in addition to adopting other disincentive programs
Plastic carrier bags; Meaning
A polymer carry bag provided or
utilized at the retail point of sale
for carrying and transporting
retail goods.
'plastic carrier bag' refers to
the high density
polyethylene (HDPE) bags
offered at the retail point of
sale and used for
transporting other products
and merchandise.
Low Density Polyethylene –
the small transparent bags
Plastic Carrier Bags in Uganda
80-90 percent of plastic bags are imported
(UMA Business unit, 2008).
Approximately 30 plastic bags firms
Importations/smuggling from neighboring
countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda
Continuous bickering among government
departments and politicians in Uganda as
failed the process
The Economic Significance of Plastic Carrier Bags
The Kaveera economy and Country’s
Revenue
Employment Opportunities
Kaveera and Agriculture
Food and Plastic carrier bags
The Kaveera and House hold shopping
The Kaveera and Other Activities
Human Health and the Carrier Bags
When burnt, they create dioxin like poisonous materials which cause cancer, skin diseases, endocrinal damage, hormone disruption, hypertension and diabetes, and affect human fertility
The cadmium used in plastic manufacturing is toxic and all meat and fish packed in plastic and polyethylene generate heat causing radiation which makes food poisonous
Workers in the polyethylene factories are more exposed to cancers, skin diseases and other fatal problems
The kaveeras have also acted as habitats for bacteria and mosquitoes in that waste disposed in them allow for multiplication of bacteria; and yet, today, malaria is the leading cause of deaths in children and mothers in Uganda.
Environment Impacts Human Health and the Carrier Bags
Drainage Blockages
Human Health and the Carrier Bags
In the slums, kaveeras have been cited to be the main cause of cholera in Kampala city since people use them as mobile toilets.
Children are also affected in the process since they play with such bags and at the end, get accidents.
Plastic bags are known for clogging waterways and channels causing floods at least a dozens of people have died in city flood-related incidents since the rains started in November 2011
Carrier Bags and the Environment
Plastic bags can take between 15 and 1,000 years to
breakdown causing prolonged disintegration leading to
choking of the soils since they do not allow water to sink
through.
When plastic bags are exposed to water and sunlight there
is increasing likelihood that they will decompose and leach in
to the soil thereby affecting soil fertility.
60% of stray cattle in Uganda die due to consumption of
polythene bags
There are approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in
each square mile of the world’s oceans and in some places
there’s more plastic than plankton
Carrier Bags and the Environment
Effect on the Country’s scenery. Not all litter is
deliberate. Up to 47% of wind borne litter is mainly
plastic bags and these end up in our towns, cities,
forests, grasslands, waterways, and oceans.
Unnecessary littering of the polythene bags on the
roadsides destroys the beautiful scenery as this makes
the environment very untidy and unpleasant to look at
Environment Impacts Plastics and the Green House Effect
Impact on Country’s Livestock and Aquatic life
Meeting the Economic Significance of Plastic Carrier Bags
without Negatively Impacting on the Environment
People and Plastic Carrier Bags
The Total Ban on Plastic Carrier Bags
Use of Biodegradable plastics bags
Adopting to the Alternatives
Encouraging Recycling Plants
Changing Peoples’ mindset
Producers/Manufacturers’ Responsibility
Streamlining a National Policy
NEMA Uganda; whose Responsibility?
NEMA is a policy regulating body and an
Authority in charge of making laws and
facilitating compliances under the Ministry of
Environment
NEMA works with sister Ministries and
Authorities
Continuous conflict of interests; the Ministry
of Environment and NEMA as well as the
Ministry of Finance
Its position on Microns was not respected
Way Forward
Need to balance the economic and environment interests
Strong political will and good leadership in the development of a national policy on the use and management of carrier bags
Educating and sensitizing the public about their lifestyles and negotiate alternatives.
○ The use of ESD/environment clubs in schools and higher institutions of learning
○ NGOs through their informal education campaigns by empowering communities on how they can use and manage plastic carrier bags
○ The media through their eco-programmes to avail information to the public
Way Forward Contu.
Operationalise and enforce the Polluter
Pays Principle (PPP) in NEA
Strong emphasis on the use of re-usable
materials like cloths, sisal, etc
Support and promote recycling
programmes through incentives giving.
Benchmarking other countries good
practices on the management of carrier
bags.
‘Everyone has a role to play;
play it’.
‘Before we set out to reform the world, we would do
well pause and see if we should reform ourselves…the inner limits which constrains
sustainable growth and development include limits associated with the way each of us thinks and behaves in both private and public contexts’…
(Laszlo 1989)
Thank You for your time and let the spirit of
sustainability prevail in all present today.
‘Remember to walk the talk’